In September 2012, brand-new health minister Margaret MacDiarmid, saying she was 鈥渟hocked鈥� and 鈥渄eeply troubled and disturbed,鈥� announced the firing of four sa国际传媒 Health Ministry employees and the suspension of three other employees without pay.
MacDiarmid said the government had determined that the employees used personal medical data without permission in conducting prescription-drug research.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not clear at all to me 鈥� and I don鈥檛 believe it鈥檚 clear to anyone 鈥� as to why this happened,鈥� the minster said.
Two years later, it鈥檚 even less clear. What鈥檚 becoming increasingly clear, however, is that the sa国际传媒 government made a horrible mistake that damaged reputations and careers, and stalled potentially life-saving research.
The Health Ministry announced Monday that it made a 鈥渞egrettable mistake鈥� in firing Ron Mattson, who is the third of the fired employees to settle out of court. Mattson, former manager of policy and special projects for the PharmaCare branch, had sued the government and MacDiarmid for wrongful dismissal and defamation.
鈥淚n announcing the settlement, the government thanks Mr. Mattson for his long years of service as a loyal and dedicated public servant,鈥� said a Health Ministry statement. 鈥淭he government regrets any hardship and possible loss of reputation which Mr. Mattson endured.鈥�
In March, Robert Hart, the ministry鈥檚 former director of data access, research and stewardship, was rehired 鈥渁s a demonstration of the government鈥檚 continuing confidence in him,鈥� according to an agreement of facts.
Malcolm Maclure was rehired in mid-July as a consultant on research and evidence development. The government praised Maclure for his work in health-data privacy research.
That leaves two pending lawsuits stemming from the firings. University of Victoria professor Rebecca Warburton is suing the government and MacDiarmid for wrongful dismissal and breach of contract. She shared a half-time co-director of research title within the Health Ministry with Maclure. Contractor William Warburton, Rebecca Warburton鈥檚 husband, is also suing for defamation, breach of contract and interference with contract. He also alleges that the sa国际传媒 Liberal Party, as a recipient of 鈥渟ignificant contributions from drug companies,鈥� was trying to curtail research by revoking his access to Health Ministry data. The government denies the allegations.
Three other employees launched grievances through the sa国际传媒 Government Employees Union, but the union won鈥檛 say how their grievances were resolved. One of those employees 鈥� University of Victoria co-op student Roderick MacIsaac 鈥� was fired three days before his co-op term ended, effectively ending hope to attain his doctorate. He committed suicide before the grievance process concluded.
In the three settled cases, the terms are confidential, which means it is doubtful the public will ever know what happened. A health minister expresses shock and horror, then two years later, the government tries to sneak quietly away under the cloak of non-disclosure agreements and glowing tributes to people it had formerly excoriated.
Too handy, too easy 鈥� for the government. The emotional, financial and professional damage inflicted on those who were fired is not so easily swept away. And the public is not privy to what should be public information.
MacDiarmid said at the time of the firings that there was no indication anyone benefited financially or that the personal data were used for anything other than research.
So what happened? Who advised MacDiarmid? What information was she given? If researchers had been casual in their procedures or careless in handling data, that would be grounds for reprimands and tightened policies, not the 鈥渙ff with their heads鈥� approach the government took.
There is no doubt a terrible wrong was committed two years ago. The cloak of secrecy compounds that wrong.
